Portable media players (PMPs) are handheld electronic devices that are capable of storing and playing files in one or more media formats. In general PMPs are configured to play audio and/or video files. Additionally, PMPs can also display image files, including pictures, spreadsheets, word processing documents, drawings, graphs, web pages, and the like. Data files are typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory within the PMP. Various portable media players include the ability to record video and audio, and some have built-in card readers like SD or MMC, which makes it convenient to upload media directly to the player, or the memory is used as extra capacity.
Typical video formats PMPs can be configured to play non-exclusively include MPEG, DivX, Xvid, AMV and SigmaTel Motion Video (SMV) files. Typical audio file formats PMPs can be configured to play, non-exclusively include MP3, WAV, Advanced Audio Coding (ACC) and Ogg Vorbis. Typical digital image formats PMPs can be configured to display non-exclusively include BMP, JPEG, PDF, and GIF, for example.
While most PMPs are capable of playing audio, because of their relatively small size and power needs, often times the speakers that are built into the PMP are inadequate, if they exist at all. Minimally powered, or small built-in speakers on a PMP make it difficult for multiple listeners to simultaneously enjoy an audio file. To address this issue, removable speaker assemblies for PMPs have been designed to allow multiple listeners to simultaneously hear an audio file.
One example of an existing speaker assembly configured for a PMP is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,230,822, to Langberg, et al, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Unfortunately, the speaker assembly disclosed in Langber, et al., and other existing speaker assemblies, are configured for PMPs that display images and videos files in a single orientation. Recent technological developments in PMPs however, now allow for the screen to display images and video files in multiple orientations. Examples of PMPs that currently display images and video files in multiple orientations (e.g., vertical and horizontal or portrait and landscape) non-exclusively include Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch, for example.
Thus, there is a need in the art for releasably attached speaker assemblies configured to work with PMPs that display images and/or video in multiple orientations. Accordingly, one object of the teachings herein is to provide a releasably attachable speaker assembly operably coupled to a PMP that can operate while the PMP is positioned in a plurality of orientations. More specifically, in advantageous embodiments, the teachings herein are directed to speaker assemblies that can expand past the coupled PMP in its widest orientation such that the body of the PMP does not significantly block, or overlap the speakers. Further objects of the invention, allow for a compact speaker assembly that is collapsible and expandable, to make it easier for the user to handle and transport. More specifically, in preferred embodiments the speaker assemblies provided herein can be configured to have the same, or substantially the same, height and width as the attached PMP, or even smaller.